The present invention is related to aircraft Suspension and Release Equipment (S&RE) capable of carrying and releasing various types of munitions. In particular, the present invention is concerned with a multi-purpose rack assembly capable, without adjustment, of carrying both air-to-ground bombs and air-to-air missiles when the rack is mounted within a bomb bay, under the aircraft wing, on a carriage adapter or other typical weapon carriage platform.
Currently, air-to-ground stores, i.e. bombs, and air-to-air missiles require completely separate suspension and release equipment. For instance, hooks mounted on bomb racks such as the BRU-32, BRU-47, or MAU-12 only have the capability of carrying bombs having a pair of conventional 14 inch or 30 inch spaced apart bail lugs. Conversely, the special lugs and button interfaces of missile launchers such as the LAU-116, can only mate with the lug outer rail surfaces and button interface mounted AIM-120 AMRAAM or similar missiles. Since modern fighter/attack aircraft are often required to carry both bombs and air-to-air missiles, a significant weight and volume penalty, as well as reconfiguration time penalty is imposed by the need to carry separate bomb and missile Suspension and Release Equipment.
A typical apparatus for carrying and launching bombs is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,620,680 wherein hinged supports are constructed to take up several positions depending on the diameter of the load. However, the '680 apparatus has no capability for engaging the special lug rails employed with missiles. In order to carry air-to-air missiles, a separate missile launcher would need to be mounted on the aircraft.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,944 is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated by reference thereto. This patent is directed to a store release mechanism including an engaging hook pivotally mounted to release the lug and its attached store when desired. An explosive mechanism applies release forces either directly to the overcenter control linkage by means of a sear and pawl mechanism or through a crank and lever if the sear and pawl fails to operate. The hook assembly disclosed in the '944 patent is not capable of engaging the lug rails of an AIM-120 missile without being completely redesigned.
In order to move a bomb rack hook assembly from its locked to its release position, U.S. Pat. No. 3,677,506 issued to La Roe employs a cam mechanism which, when rotated, allows movement of one of the hook supports so that the hook can rotate to disengage itself from the store lug. As a result, relatively low release forces are required to control and release large hook loads. Nevertheless, La Roe does not suggest that this release mechanism can be applied to missile launchers having lug rail interfaces.
Finally, Pat. No. 4,850,553 is of interest as disclosing a store rack and ejector mechanism employing pressurized gas to forcibly eject a released store beyond the aircraft's air stream envelope. However the ejection mechanism is described as applicable to the ejection of bombs and there is no suggestion of a multi-purpose rack capable of launching both bombs and missiles.
What is clearly needed is a multi-purpose S&RE rack assembly which is compatible with both bomb and missile Suspension and Release Requirements, which minimizes the weight penalty currently incurred when both types of racks are employed, which minimizes the volumetric impact of the rack assembly in the bomb bay or beneath the pylon, and which eliminates the need to reconfigure the aircraft to accommodate a missile launcher. As will become evident, the present invention provides a unique apparatus which fulfills all of these needs without requiring separate rack assemblies for bombs and missiles.